diff --git a/src/content/posts/2025-gmtk-game-jam-post-mortem-2025-edition.md b/src/content/posts/2025-gmtk-game-jam-post-mortem-2025-edition.md index eb719c8..cb2fe28 100644 --- a/src/content/posts/2025-gmtk-game-jam-post-mortem-2025-edition.md +++ b/src/content/posts/2025-gmtk-game-jam-post-mortem-2025-edition.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ --- -title: GMTK Game Jam Post-Mortem 2025 Edition -date: 2025-08-23T14:23 +title: "GMTK Game Jam Post-Mortem: 2025 Edition" +date: 2025-09-14T14:23 excerpt: My second game jam ever! tags: - gamejam @@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ Within the first 24 hours or so we had a functioning prototype, which felt great Initially we thought gossip might travel between coworkers on a grid (kind of like [Pipe Dream](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_Mania)). -![](https://cdn.wonderfulfrog.com/images/rm-grid-concept.png) +![](https://cdn.wonderfulfrog.com/images/rm-grid-concept.png "I was thinking it would be funny to have 'office clowns'") I was playing with the idea of gossip traveling along a line (hence the red/white colours there). Early on we also knew we wanted a “departments” concept, something that would affect the score depending on who talked to who (which is where the coloured borders come from). @@ -114,27 +114,60 @@ I wasn't really sure where I was going with this one, but I thought some odd geo ![](https://cdn.wonderfulfrog.com/images/rm-icons-and-badges-concept.png) -Somehow our conversation turned to J. Jonah Jameson, and naturally that mean he was going to be our second coworker! +Somehow our conversation turned to J. Jonah Jameson, and naturally that meant he was going to be our second coworker! -![](https://cdn.wonderfulfrog.com/images/rm-portrait-concept-3.png) +
+ +
Please get me all the gossip on Spider-man Mr. Parker, if you have the time that is...
+
Something wasn't quite right here. The eyes felt a little... small. JJJ is a big personality, so I went back and experimented a bit more and landed on that stern face: -![](https://cdn.wonderfulfrog.com/images/rm-portrait-concept-3-1.png) +
+ +
I need all the gossip about Spider-Man, Parker!
+
After that I picked a few more "office people" to add to our roster. First was Pam from Archer: -![](https://cdn.wonderfulfrog.com/images/rm-portrait-concept-4.png) +
+ +
The watercooler goes "sploosh"
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And I've been watching The Good Wife lately, so why not add Diane Lockhart? -![](https://cdn.wonderfulfrog.com/images/rm-portrait-concept-5.png) +
+ +
I bet she loves to open phishing emails...
+
-I'm having a ton of fun making various portraits, but realizing quickly that we don't have as much time as I estimate we do. I'll need to switch gears to making other parts of our game next. +I'm having a ton of fun making various portraits, but realizing quickly that we don't have as much time as I estimate we do. I'll need to move onto other visuals... how about the title screen? + +A piece of iconography I latched onto was palm trees. Somehow I felt the tropical vibe was a good fit for "SlowDays Inc". That's how we ended up somewhere vaguely Miami: + +
+ +
I should've added a sun!
+
+ +For the logo itself I thought the blue and white looked pretty slick, but accidentally kinda recreated a watercooler motif? + +
+ +
You can feel the watercooler filling up, right?
+
+ +Lastly, we needed a breakroom! + +
+ +
Thirsty? Enjoy our SlowDays Inc branded water!
+
## Audio -On top of the visuals, I also got to play the role of sound designer! I did a bit of foley to get the majority of our sounds. To record the majority of the sounds I used my Blue Yeti, and a bit of finesse inside Audacity. A simple setup, but it worked well! +On top of the visuals, I also got to play the role of sound designer! I did a bit of foley to get the majority of our sounds. For most sounds I used my Blue Yeti, and a bit of finesse inside Audacity. A simple setup, but it worked well! The ID badge sounds were created using a deck of cards - I would slide, pick up, place, and generally muck around with them to produce a variety of sounds. I think I recorded over 50 different sounds in total, but pared it down to about 15 (using about 3-6 sounds each for picking up, placing, and hovering cards). @@ -220,6 +253,11 @@ Lastly, I had to record our cat Ramona for her grand reveal in game. Let me tell
Meow 2
+
+  And if you'd like to spoil the surprise, here's Ramona's portrait! +  +
+ To really sell the office vibe, we sourced some stock sounds of people chatting, microwave beeps, and general ambiance. It really feels like you're having lunch in the breakroom (and someone is microwaving fish _again_). Overall I'm super happy with how the sound and ambiance came off. @@ -245,3 +283,5 @@ Overall, I had a great time. I'm proud of what we made and feel like we found a I know I said this last time, but I swear this time I mean it! We are continuing to work on the game. I don't want to spoil too much, but we are revisiting some of the core mechanics to develop a vision of the game that matches our expectations. With a game jam you have to set yourself certain limits to save time, but now that we have plenty of time... let's see where we can push things. I've spent some time trying to determine a "visual style" of where I think things should go... I'm getting close to finding it. Let's just say "Windows NT" and leave it there. I know for certain though that while I enjoyed the constraints of a 1-bit style, I'm going to want a few more colours for a full game. + +Hopefully the next time I'm talking about **Rumor Mill** will be revealing a game release! Until then!